Stillbirth
by Nusaka
Summary: Out on an escort mission Hinata vanishes. Her team scrambles to find and put the pieces together. What they find, will be the end of the world as we know it. AU hinted pairings
1. Eins

_Stillbirth_

"_May those who curse days curse that day, those who are ready to rouse the Leviathan." _

_ - Book of Job 3:8_

Eins

The streets were silent, quiet and would have been peaceful if it weren't for the ominous noose hanging from a broken streetlamp. It meant to all who walked on the streets, to those who pimped, killed and stole on the streets that _they_ were out of their cages. _They_ being the real murdering lunatics who sold people, children included on the black market.

The noose danced in the wind then, and the lookouts posted by the "Auctioneers", as they'd been dubbed by the public, to keep an eye on the deadened streets failed to notice a flash of white zip past, climbing up the side of a ruined building that had once been an editing company.

Hands, though small and frail looking gripped the jutting parts of the building with an iron grip swinging up higher without a problem. Wooden geta shoes clung to feet loosely while the female climbed up the side of the building quickly and quietly. The body of the female currently moving so agilely was dressed in a white kimono with splotches of dark grey on the sleeve hems and the bottom trim. A thick black obi was tied tightly, hiding numerous weapons and miscellaneous things.

The young woman scaling the building came to a stop when she reached the edge of the top of it, white eyes flashing to and fro. Her blue black hair was pinned back from her face with a long blue ribbon wrapped around her hair but also held up by a pair of polished black chopsticks. Standing on the building, she took a quick surveillance, waiting for something. Lifting the thick collar of her kimono, she spoke into a small silvery disk, "They're not here yet. Something's wrong," she whispered.

Static before an annoyed and still rather blank voice replied, "_Stay put. They ran into a few border bandits so they'll be late._" The young woman fidgeted and because she hadn't replied the voice snapped suddenly, truly annoyed, "_Hinata, remain in your position do not abort_." She still didn't answer, looking around her and listening carefully for a flare or faraway bomb. "_Hinata_," the hiss sounded a little more than irritated now.

"Remaining in position. Mission is not be aborted," she confirmed doubtfully, eyes roaming and looking for any new signs that the supply truck would arrive. "Shikamaru?" she whispered.

"_Yeah?_" the static was cleared now, so she heard his tired yawn in the background, away from the microphone.

"Why was the pickup scheduled here?" she asked, turning to her left and looking around.

She heard him sigh, but paid it no mind. "_Hinata if you're going to be this freaked out, do you want me to send in Temari?_"

Hinata stiffened and hissed back, "N-no! I'm fine, I was just curious, that's all. I'm not freaking out, I'm fine," she insisted and it sounded plastic even to her.

"_Good, just breathe in and exhale, count to ten and keep your eyes on the ball, alright Hinata?_" she listened to Shikamaru and sighed.

"Alright, I will."

"_You'd better, or I'm sending Temari in and she hasn't slept in about three days_," Shikamaru snorted at the end of his sentence.

Hinata's left eye twitched and she felt a cold slime seep into her insides, rolling down the walls of muscle and tissue. The feeling of foreboding was back and she couldn't quell it so she bit her knuckle. Facing a cranky Temari recently back from a mission was like throwing breadfruit at a lion – especially if that lion was dragged from a night's rest just because a paranoid rodent of the platoon was scared shitless over absolutely nothing.

Her stomach cramped and she reached into her obi to pull out a small packet of nori crackers.

Maybe she was just hungry, maybe she'd been watching too many horror flicks with Kiba, maybe she was naturally too paranoid for her own good, maybe there was no reason to be all uptight – it was just a pickup. That's all it was – not a spying information retrieval job or a kidnapping of a high totem pole figure or an assassination. It was just a pickup.

Hinata crunched on one of the crackers, tasting salt and seaweed. All she had to do was escort it back to the base, make sure that everything was there and keep an eye on them to make sure they didn't pull any funny business.

Hinata turned to her right, looking over the buildings around her and down on the street – the still desolate and quiet as death street. She continued to eat crackers for another five minutes, still not seeing anything and the cold, slimy feeling in her gut like a crawling slug hadn't gone away, but only increased. She sealed the packet and tucked it back into her obi – those crackers weren't helping at all at the moment.

She lifted her thick collar, "Eh, Shikamaru?" she asked and forced the tremble out of her voice.

She received a muffled curse and then he yawned into his microphone, "_What now Hinata_?"

"Uh," she looked around quickly, "Should I change my position because I still don't see any sign of them."

Silence and then, "_Hinata you're freaking out; standby I'm sending Temari out,"_ he rummaged around and Hinata knew he was going for the buzzer that would trigger the alarm in Temari's room.

"A-ah no!" she spat it out so fast that she forgot to keep her stutter in check because it would be a dead giveaway of her panic.

"_Hinata you're obviously not in the best of shape to deal with this now so I'm going to send Temari out with you and forbid you to watch late night horror fests with Kiba_."

"Shikamaru, I promise you that I'm fine," she hoped that Shikamaru wouldn't somehow sense that she was shaking, even if he was at the underground base. "I'm just…"

"_Scared_?" she bristled defensively at his bored tone.

"No! I'm just worried about the supplies truck. I mean, they met up with those border bandits a while ago, so what if they ran into something else too?"

She heard him click his tongue, "_I'll use the GPS and check in with them_."

Hinata hid her sigh of relief, "Okay."

She heard him start typing rapidly and sighing, muttering about how troublesome everyone was. She waited.

The wind blew past her and tugged on her pinned up hair, sending her lengthy sleeves a flutter. "_Hinata…_" she heard him start but trail off, as though unsure. "_Hinata, it shows that they're there. Are you positive they're nowhere in sight?_"

A lukewarm gushing feeling entered her arms and stomach; like some sort of garbage slime. "No…they…they're not here, Shikamaru."

"_Hinata, I want you to take a quick look around and if there's still no sign of them, retreat immediately, you hear?"_ he sounded blasé about the whole thing, but knowing Shikamaru he was doing it for her, not out of the fact that this wasn't important to him.

Hinata gulped, clutching her collar, "A-Alright." Hinata leapt off the building to land on its neighbor's rooftop and began to scout diligently, though her heart was about to beat its way from her rib cage.

"_Hinata, what foreign film would you recommend because they're being rated as the top movies of the year._" Maybe she was extremely easy to read, maybe she'd been breathing too hard while on her microphone, maybe Shikamaru was a mastermind at reading people even if it wasn't a face to face conversation or maybe she'd forgotten to keep the panic out of her voice, because she knew Shikamaru didn't like watching television or watching movies. It was another one of his strategic tactics, like his battle, kidnapping and espionage plots – he was keeping her talking so she wouldn't have a total heart attack.

She licked her lips, "Well um there's this one Korean movie called um _Eye for an Eye_, it got really good critic ratings."

"_What's it about_?" his lazy, calm and almost perpetually bored tone made her relax a little. She looked to her left, right, southwest and east before jumping from the building to the other rooftop.

"Uh it's about a-an abused housewife who has a son and she raises him to hate his father," Hinata squinted in the darkness when she saw something move on the next rooftop. It moved _fast_. "And when she tells him to kill him, he does…" she trailed off and spoke no more.

On the other end Shikamaru leaned back in his chair and waited for Hinata to finish her little foreign film summary. The bluish glow of the computer screens was cast over his face and his single silver earring shined; black barcode hidden beneath his hair. He frowned, "_Hinata_?"

A sharp gasp, grunt of what sounded to be pain and demented laughter sounded out from the other end. Shikamaru's normally lazily roaming black eyes snapped open wide and alert. "_Hinata?_" he called out to her once, receiving nothing but static as a response. "_Hinata?_!" he yelled out, no longer playing cool and unperturbed by the fact that the GPS said they were there, but Hinata, their top scout couldn't find them.

Static.

"_Hinata!_"

…

…

Chouji fidgeted in his seat while he actually chewed quite slowly on his steamed noodle plate; eating at a considerably slower pace than usual. Black eyes, all encompassing like water in a deep well stared at him blankly, not blinking and then taking a bite out of an apple while Chouji continued to be discomforted.

"I make you nervous," Uchiha Sasuke – one of the underground base's top mercenaries stated bluntly.

_OF COURSE YOU DO YOU FREAK_! "Heh, what gave you that idea, you just normally sit next to Shikamaru or Temari or Naruto…that's all…" was what really came out of Chouji's partially full mouth.

Sasuke took another bite out of his green apple, "Hn."

Chouji stared back at him, unsure of what to do when faced with _the_ Uchiha and Sasuke of course stared back. Chouji stared for about another ten seconds or so before rising and taking his tray with him, about to exit the cafeteria before Sasuke could kill him or something, "Uh…nice talking to you." The plump young man practically ran away bawling his eyes out, wondering the _fuck_ he'd done to deserve to have to be in the company of that weirdo.

Sasuke watched him leave out of the corner of his eye, gnawing on his apple. Chouji went through the doors and left the cafeteria empty save for Sasuke.

"Sasuke," the black haired youth turned at the sound of Tenten's voice, the older woman leaning on her hip with her customary tanto tied to her back hip high. "Where's Temari?" Sasuke bit into his apple and turned his head from her, so the woman with the twin brunette buns sighed in annoyance and sat down in front of him. "Where is she?"

"Miss someone beating on you?" he asked around his apple.

Tenten scowled at him and narrowed her eyes, "Listen up you no good son of a bitch," Sasuke's jaw clenched. "Just because –somehow, fuck knows why – you're in the good graces of Naruto and Shikamaru does not mean that you are with _me_."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed and red rimmed his obsidian, "I have no reason to be in the good grace of someone like _you_."

Tenten snarled and her hand flashed silver, already having pulled out her tanto, pointing it straight and steady at Sasuke's left eye, "Don't test me and don't you dare be condescending you brat – you're lucky Naruto pleaded with Shikamaru and Tsunade to not execute you and leave you for the coyotes." Sasuke didn't flinch while he stared at the tanto and Tenten's enraged face.

"You're not going to go into a long winded explanation on how I should express my gratitude are you?"

Tenten hissed and resisted the urge to plow the blade into the gelatin of his eyeball. "No, I'm saying it wouldn't kill you to not be a bastard for two goddamn seconds."

Sasuke smirked, "You have no idea what would kill me."

Tenten's lip curled from a deep scowl to a twisted smirk, "Shall we find out Uchiha?"

Tenten gasped and blinked when the smooth feel of the lacquered hilt of her precious tanto was gone and the blade was pressed to her throat. "I hate threats, _Chao_," he hissed her last name, "However…if you're telling the truth, then it's an entirely different matter."

Tenten saw into Sasuke's eyes then, meeting them head on and seeing not just black and tints of red. She gulped silently and a cold chill overcame her stomach – a play of maddened power. Sasuke's arm moved and slammed the blade into the table all the way to the hilt. Tenten flinched harshly and withheld a startled gasp at the sudden movement. Sasuke stood over her and she looked up at him, feeling the hairs on her neck go up. "Temari's resting – she and the idiot just came back from a three day mission."

He walked away.

…

…

Gaara closed one black rimmed eye, other grey green one locked onto his target, trigger finger itching but he had a will made of steel, or some other unbendable metal. His target remained unmoving, black and still. Locked on – fire.

The handgun kicked like a mule while it fired but it was his favorite one – silver and shiny, it was a giant. It had been built crooked in such a fashion so that he would be the only one who could handle the kick and aim it right.

Three shots rang out in a certified order – first one was immediate, a three second pause before the second was fired and the third was immediate. A moving target appeared from a trick wall that flipped and revealed its secret; a body of metal – red and silver ran forth from the end of the target range, moving forth in a run, lobster like claws snapping and single red eye perched atop of its head blinking and trained on Gaara.

Gaara closed one eye again and leaned his weight on his right leg. He kept his eye on the cyborg's left metal leg, watching it stretch out for another long step, exposing thick cables and wires. He waited for another half a second when it stretched out again and fired, deep into the wires and blew the left leg of the cyborg cleanly off, causing the metal body to topple.

It went into a three legged crouch and scuttled to him, the twin guns on its shoulders popping out and aiming straight for the redhead who in turn fired straight into the right shoulder's gun, causing it to turn harshly, facing the left gun once it began to fire.

His gun aimed for the red eye, still trained on him and three consecutive shots – the first one was immediate (to the eye), then a three second pause before the second one was lodged into the chest panel, denting it and nearly going through the motherboard. The third one was immediately after it and crushed through the weakened protective chest casing, burning through wires and hammering into the motherboard that fried within ten seconds, shutting the cyborg down where it went into a still life and hung limply.

"What?" he barked quietly in the dimmed lighting of the practice room. He straightened from his 'sniper' form to turn to look over at his commander; Shikamaru who blended into the darkness quite well.

There was a flick and the bright and blinding lights of the practice arena flared on; bleach white and covered the training area like genocide. Gaara squinted while his eyes adjusted, reloading his gun absently while doing so. Shikamaru leaned his weight on his left hip, looking over at the demolished cyborg left for dead on the concrete and sighed, running a hand to frizzy black hair in a ponytail. "Gaara, I need to talk with you," he walked to the other exit opposite of the door he'd just entered from. He didn't motion for Gaara to follow him, but the redhead knew to do so anyway.

The door clicked shut behind them and the two were walking down an empty sterile white and light grey hallway. Gaara held his gun before sliding it carefully into its respective place at his black belt. The redhead frowned and walked alongside his commander, noting the frazzled look on his face. Shikamaru noticed he was being observed discreetly and wiped his face of everything but a lazy and annoyed look. He rummaged around in his pants pocket before unveiling a cigarette.

Popping the butt end in his mouth he pulled a lighter from a pocket of his dark green jacket and flicked the lid open, flame dancing. He lit his cigarette and inhaled long and slow before sighing while exhaling. A curl of scented purple smoke followed while Shikamaru ran his hand through his hair again.

Shikamaru was leading him, Gaara realized, to the main central computer laboratory which was usually strictly kept for his commanding officer and Sakura. Shikamaru opened the door and darkness beheld them. The lazy commander walked in and the redhead took it as an invite before stepping into the computer threshold.

Hazy blue lights flicked on and off, greens and red from satellite surveillances and rolling pictures and bios of wanted criminals were on the screens of the many computers held in the lab. Shikamaru, however, led him to a large monitor with a headset that lay on its side. "Gaara, earlier I sent Hinata out for a pickup since the supplies truck was supposed to arrive today; the meeting place was at the Bad Lands."

The redhead cast him an underhanded glare, "The Bad Lands?"

Shikamaru nodded and wiped a hand over his face, "I don't know why exactly they wanted to meet there of the godforsaken places on this rock, but they'd made their decision. I wasn't really in any place to object since technically this facility is running pretty low on funds and since winter is coming up, all the other prices would be skyrocketing so it was either them or we starve." His commander's voice was flat and dry.

The redhead frowned slightly, "If they wanted to meet at the Bad Lands then they're hiding from something."

Shikamaru nodded his agreement, "Or from someone."

Gaara turned to him with a serious face, "Why didn't you send anyone else out with her? She's only a scout and the Bad Land is crawling with S class."

Shikamaru sighed and took another long puff of his cigarette, "I know, but Temari and Naruto just came back from a three day stake out and kill from Chiba. Tenten was on medical leave because she had been wounded when the Uchiha retrieval had been ongoing. Sasuke…can't go since he's on probation. And you," Shikamaru looked away momentarily to stare at a nearby computer; a blue glow on his face. "You couldn't go with her for the obvious."

Gaara's facial expression didn't change, and he turned away to look at the list of all the wanted ones, listing all the way from S to D class criminals. There was an awkward silence, before the redhead spoke softly, but it made it all the more menacing, "You still should have sent someone with her."

"There weren't any people to send with her," Shikamaru rebuked with annoyance in his voice.

Gaara's black rimmed eyes narrowed, "Shikamaru, cut the bullshit, I'm in here for a reason and I want to know why." His hands were itching to reach for his gun – either one since he was ambidextrous.

Shikamaru turned from him, cigarette smoke pluming up. He entered a password into the computer and spoke, "Hinata had been waiting for the truck for quite some time since they'd run into bandits earlier and she wanted me to check up on them, so I checked with the GPS and they'd been there, for a while too it seemed like. I told her to check around for them to see if they'd parked somewhere near, and then…" he trailed off.

Gaara's eyes narrowed and his trigger fingers itched again. "And then _what_?"

Clicking a few times, Shikamaru answered the redhead vaguely, "This is the audio feed we got from Hinata since we can't get any sort of visual feed over there – some sort of scrambler that mixes up the images."

The volume was medium, and Gaara listened when Shikamaru topped talking. A black background with a green graph line showed the intensity of the sounds moved, silence before a sharp feminine gasp, background static, a muffled grunt of pain, demented laughter and final static that made the green line go haywire.

"Play it again."

Shikamaru replayed it and he listened, carefully. "Play it again," he repeated when it ended.

His commander did so, and the redhead closed his eyes to block out everything else, a sharp feminine gasp but there was a small, almost inaudible grunt of pain not from Hinata. She had been startled and had gone into immediate self defense. The background static melted into air rushing past the microphone she would have hidden in her open collar and then a sound he hadn't caught before - harsh breathing; like fear. She was running, not coordinated, and something scared her; scared her bad.

No sound of footsteps following her, but a definite whack – whoever hit her hit her good and then her grunt of pain. He heard something flop to the ground, her body, tired or unconscious. The crunch of boots approaching her was barely there and whoever had done this was not an amateur. Chuckling and a small whisper, Gaara strained his ears, "_Fürchtet euch nicht_." A howling gale of demented laughter and then something Gaara couldn't catch before static overcame the microphone.

"Shikamaru replay it about ten seconds ago."

"_Fürchtet euch nicht_," maniacal laughter and a hissing whisper, near the microphone so that it could have been taken for static, "_Aus_." Then static.

Gaara opened his eyes to look at Shikamaru, "I think it's German"-

"I'm going, I'll find her and while I'm at it look for the supplies truck."

"Gaara, stop right there, I'm not sending anyone out right now because one, we need to see if we can contact her since we don't know if she's still in the Bad Lands or alive."

The redhead's eyes narrowed, "Which is why you should let me go."

Shikamaru shook his head and sighed, "Gaara, I already went to Tsunade and she said to wait for at least eight hours before we send any sort of rescue team out."

The redhead's lip curled back, "And _why_ is that exactly?"

Shikamaru remained cool and collected despite the menacing tone, "Gaara we're already handicapped due to our limited man power since you, Temari, Naruto and myself, not including Hinata, are the only ones who are actually able since Sakura and Ino can't leave the base unless it's for emergencies."

Gaara's scowl faded to a blank and stoic mask, "Then what?" his voice was deep rooted and hinted at a snarl.

Shikamaru sighed and leaned back against his desk, inhaling on his cigarette and running his hand through his hair, "We wait."

Shikamaru heard the click of a boots tapping on the waxed tiled floor, and he looked up to watch Gaara's back as he left. Shikamaru sighed and finished off his cigarette, putting it out in the glass ashtray and tipped his head back when the computer lab's door shut closed, encompassing the genius in darkness. Shikamaru replayed the video, listening to anything they might have missed.

"_Fürchtet euch nicht. Aus." _

-

This is what I get for listening to Rammstein (love those Germans –drool-) and watching Bakuretsu Tenshi (always love that anime :D) earlier. -.- Like it, don't like it? Tell me; there's a purple button and flames (good ones) and constructive reviews are doubtlessly accepted. –sweat drop- Also note that this isn't going to be a Hinata centric fic; this is just the opening to a lovely lil world of trouble for the team which I'll go into next chapter, where I'll also introduce Neji, Temari, Naruto and maybe by then I'll also introduce Ino, Sakura, Kiba and Shino.

Well, why don't you try to answer two questions for me: **Why isn't Gaara allowed to work with Hinata? Why does Tenten seem so ticked with Sasuke?**

Suggest a few pairings if you like too.

Explanations:

_Bad Lands_ – What used to be Kyoto – but is now a city in ruins, it is a breeding ground for kidnappings, drug deals and where many criminals choose to hide out due to the bad reputation it carries with it. (Will be gone into more detail Chapter Two or Three)


	2. Zwei

_Stillbirth _

_You've got the police force. You've got the rogues. You've got the bounty hunters. You've got the assassins. At least they have categories so you know where they stand; the MAIH don't._ –

_Asuma Sarutobi_

Zwei

"MAIH, doesn't sound very intimidating does it?" a drawl and inhale of smoke, blowing it out and it fluttered up; clogging the air. "You want to know what it means?" chuckling and a tap on the rim of the ashtray – ash falling from the cigarette. "Technically it's a grammatically misleading word that may point to a specific sort of group. Actually," inhale, smoke curling. "It's a generalized term that the HALE use. Want to know what that means to, huh?"

More laughter, coarse voice continuing after another drag of the slowly disappearing cigarette, "HALE stands for Heavily Armed Law Enforcers. At least, that's what the government wants you to think." The cigarette was snuffed out, another drawn from a pocket and lit, put between lips. "'Course the public seems to believe that they have their best interest at heart; taking out the trash and whatnot. Hunting down missing kids and people, putting murderers, rapists and thieves, drug dealers and all those people who help make the world go around out of everyone's lives." Chuckling, "Yeah you heard me right," inhale and blowing out.

"Not jail. Hunt them down, kill them wherever they are like rabid dogs," index curling and firing the imaginary pistol. "_Bang_." A pause then, "HALE and the government doesn't really take too kindly to the bounty hunters, since they seem to suck their money out of their pockets like a bunch of leeches, but they still pay of course. The little sects people live in, like a family of forty or so, are being broken up so that they have no choice but to thrive off the HALE. Taking away their guns, ammunition, even pepper spray – taking away their means of protection so they have to depend on them; pay them and listen and obey. That's why they hate the MAIH."

A sigh, "You still around for the MAIH, aren't you?" tongue cluck, "Mercenary Agents Illegally Hired. Not just mercenaries; scouts, bodyguards, anything. But they keep to this name to put them out of business, make them to be suspicious of to force them to come crawling to the HALE for dependence. Bastards. Complicated, but what do you expect from a bunch of punks who have money in their eyes?" inhale, exhale.

"If anyone asks you who you heard it from, you can tell them but you might end up in a loony bin. After all," large smile, lazy and smoke exiting from a long slit in a tanned throat, "dead men can't talk."

…

…

"Eight hours, Tsunade."

Hazel catlike eyes flit to the ticking clock above them on the opposite wall, hands folded beneath her chin. "So it is."

Dark eyes narrowed, usually lazy and not alert, "What now?"

"It all depends. We could just…consider her dead, or we consider her still missing and we send out search parties." Tsunade's voice was even and reptilian in the most horrid of ways.

"We consider her missing and we're going to have a meeting on her disappearance."

She sighed and tipped back in her chair, "Shikamaru, you and I both know that we are running low on people, it was too risky sending just two of them to the Bad Lands, but our best scout?"

Shikamaru stared back evenly, "Hinata was sent out willingly, she knew the risks."

Tsunade looked off, "No one was able to be sent with her?"

"Neji had been in the infirmary, Kiba and Shino had just arrived from Osaka being bodyguards to an uprising politician. Temari and Naruto had just come back from stakeouts…Lee was in the infirmary along with Tenten."

"And Gaara?"

Shikamaru stuffed his hands in his pockets, "Incapacitated."

Tsunade looked at Shikamaru, "Nara you are taking full responsibility for this and whatever you're planning had better be worth this."

Shikamaru scratched the back of his head, standing from his chair, "It will be."

He opened the door and turned back to throw something over his shoulder while he left, "I'll gather everyone in the gathering room."

The door shut after his departure and Tsunade stared into her sake cup. Grabbing her glass, "Cheers, Nara." She downed it her alcohol in a single gulp.

…

…

A blank white eyed stare. "Come again Nara?"

Shikamaru sighed, "She was sent in as an escort for the supplies truck. She sounded like she was being attacked and then, nothing."

Neji, one of their top assassins stared unflinchingly at the black haired Nara. His eyes narrowed, "You lost my cousin, Nara."

Shikamaru said nothing, feeling guilt ripple through him like a stone being thrown in water. "I know."

"You sent her to her death Nara. What the _hell_ were you thinking, sending her to the Bad Lands?" Neji's voice, while even was menacing, undertones of pain being promised to his equal.

"I know I did Neji, and there was no one else to send. You and your squad just came back from your mission this morning." Shikamaru stared back at Neji whose jaw clenched.

"If I find her body Nara, you won't have the same privileges she will have." His voice was a razor made of ice.

Shikamaru said nothing for a moment, expecting such a statement (not a threat) from Neji, "Tsunade wants us all to gather in the gathering room." Neji didn't nod, only glared, ice picks in his eyes. He shut the door heavily in Shikamaru's face with a loud bang.

Shikamaru walked away and his fingers were itching for another cigarette.

"_I win." _

_He stared blankly at the computer screen while the other beside him on her chair sighed loudly, "I can't believe it. You beat me at pinball." _

_Shikamaru shrugged at Hinata, "I told you you'd regret it." _

_Mumbling she sighed and waved at hand at him patiently, "Alright, alright, enough with the subtle gloating already." Her face reminded him of his when he had to do overtime or anything that required energy. "I never thought you were one for sweets." _

_Shikamaru shrugged, "I like them well enough." _

_Hinata's nose wrinkled at him, "Hm, raisin and peanut butter cookies eh?" Shikamaru nodded slightly closed his eyes and leaned back into his chair. A moment of content silence, not including the small clicks and beeping noises the computers let out. Shikamaru withdrew a cigarette from his jacket and was going for his lighter, but was stopped. "Don't smoke," Hinata's nose was wrinkled a bit and she'd stolen his lighter. _

_Shikamaru let out a loud sigh, "Don't be troublesome Hinata."_

_Hinata frowned at him, "Just don't smoke when I'm around okay? It smells horrible." _

_Shikamaru sighed, "Troublesome," he muttered when Hinata handed him his lighter back, leaning back in her chair and Shikamaru tucked the cigarette behind his ear. _

"_Thank you Shikamaru." _

_Another loud sigh and he clicked 'restart game'_.

Rounding a corner, there was a disposal can and he reached into his pocket to withdraw his last pack of cigarettes. He stared at the dark purple label for a moment. _"Don't smoke them while I'm around, okay?"_ He tossed the pack in the trash can and walked away silently, with a blank look on his face. _Troublesome_.

…

…

"_You can't kill me," a taunting voice, the shine of blades in the night with a full moon. Crisp cool air that nearly caused her to shiver, sweat beaded at her temples and her arms ached._

"_Yes I _can_!" she ran at him, prized battle fan at her side, and a large meat cleaver in her other hand. She'd moved so quickly but he only stayed in place. Her fan snapped closed, and went straight through his heart, out the other side and the large meat cleaver sliced through his neck almost completely, leaving him as a human Pez dispenser._

_He went still, slicked back silver hair shining in the light and light green eyes still glowing, smug grin on still on his face. _

_Temari got closer to him, "Yes I can. I can." _

_Then he blinked and his head twisted to look over at her and his grin faded, replaced by a bitterer half smile. "I wish." _

_He twisted and slammed his leg into her solar plexus, with her hands still holding on to her weapons tightly so she also ripped them out of him. _

_She landed heavily and looked up to watch the muscles and veins of his dismembered neck slowly stitch together while his skin stretched and covered it. No wound was left. _

_The three bladed weapon he wielded was lifted, "I told you. You can't kill me." _

_Temari stared at him, "I will. I'll gut you and rip out your fucking organs with your own goddamn scythe and eat your heart you son of bitch." _

_A blade touched her neck, "Promise? For me?" _

_Behind him, the moon cracked open like an egg and dropped from the sky, leaving darkness_.

"Temari…Temari?" teal eyes snapped open to look at the blonde partner beside her. Bright blue eyes gazed at her, "Why were we called here?" he questioned, looking at the sterile white room they were currently in, the two of them leaning against a wall.

"I don't know Naruto."

He frowned and stared at her almost disapprovingly, "You still thinking about that guy?"

Her eyes met his and she didn't look away, "Just a dream I had, that's all."

He nodded once and took a look at the other people gathered in the room with them; the two medics Ino and Sakura stood side by side without bickering, Neji, Lee and Tenten all grouped together with looks as though they had just visited a graveyard on their faces, Kiba and Shino, Chouji, Shikamaru…even the rookies and apprentices were there; Konohamaru, Moegi and Udon. Except one.

Tsunade strolled to the front of the sterile room to the white desk, leaning on it. "I've called all of you here because we have a…problem that we need to"-

"A problem? A problem is less serious than the kidnapping of my cousin and our best scout," Neji hissed, eyes flashing and Naruto stiffened, turning to Tsunade.

"Neji"-

"What!? Hinata's been kidnapped?! Are you shitting me?" Naruto blurted out.

Tsunade sent Neji a dirty look, "Yes, while she was out on an escort mission to the Bad Lands, the supplies truck had been late so she was going to search for it, but she was attacked and then it cut off."

Silence, awkward, stifling silence and Tsunade dug into her shirt, reaching between her mammoth sized breasts to draw out a silver flask. "What are we planning on doing then?" Kiba's voice came out, gruff and concerned for his friend.

Tsunade tipped the flask and swallowed before answering, "Your Commander has decided that we consider her missing. We will be sending out a search party for Hinata and another one to find out where the hell the supplies truck went"-

"Screw the goddamn truck Tsunade! One of our men is missing and you want us to play hide and seek with a truck?"

"One you brat, you're out of line, two that goddamn truck is our supplies truck; not just ammunition but water and food that was supposed to last us during the winter since you know that the companies won't send their people out in bad weather where they can be easy prey for bandits. Unless you feel like starving, then fine, everyone search for one scout and forget the supplies that we will die without." Her voice was a razor, thin and sharp; eyes cold and reptilian like a snake's.

Naruto fell silent, "Who are you going to send to look for the Hyuuga?" voice like a violent current of dark water cut through the silence after Tsunade's outburst.

Tsunade rose a blonde brow, "What's it to you? You know you can't leave the base Uchiha."

Sasuke, leaning on the wall near the door gave her a dark look, "You're going to be short on men Tsunade."

"We're already short on men Uchiha. I see no reason why I should let you out of the underground base to take a wee little tinkle, much less look for our best scout or the supplies truck."

Sasuke snorted, "You think that excluding one of your best mercs is a good idea?"

"After the little show you displayed the last time you went out on a mission, yeah, it's a damn good idea."

Sasuke's mouth curled into a smirk, "The Bad Lands is my _home_, Tsunade. You think anybody else knows it as well as I do?"

Tsunade returned the smirk with a nasty grin of her own, "Gaara does."

Sasuke shrugged, "Yeah, one merc. Two search parties; not the greatest equation don't you think?"

Tsunade's cat eyes narrowed at the Uchiha before her eyes snapped shut and she chuckled, "Fair enough Uchiha. You finally get to outside and take a piss. Everyone else, you get new groups and you will search for what you have been directed to search for, understand?"

Temari turned her head to Sasuke who was no longer smirking, but a blank look on his face. He must have felt the blonde's gaze because he turned and met her dark teal eyes which narrowed further. _I'm watching you Uchiha_.

Sasuke turned from Temari's sharp gaze back to Tsunade who was assigning the teams.

…

…

Gaara stood in front of the tall metal door.

"_So, what now?" _

"_Now? Now you die."_

Gaara closed his eyes and leaned his forehead against the cold metal of the door, inhaling after voices of the past invaded his thinking space.

_Gunpowder in the air, dark sky and empty buildings – goddamn his side hurt, bleeding, bleeding. The smell of his own blood clogged his senses. Coughing – forget his side, his whole body hurt like hell. Silver gun lay in his hand – blood smudges. He coughed again and felt wet on his cheeks. _

_Crunch of gravel, geta shoes, white kimono, pale skin, pale eyes, dark hair, "What now?" the familiar looking grim reaper had come for him. If death looked like this, maybe dying wasn't so bad. _

_Fingers twisted dark hair, "Now?" another hand lifted and he saw a black handgun. "Now you die." _

_Huh. Who would've thought death used a gun? _

_A sudden gunshot rang in the air_.

His eyes slid closed and he opened the door. It creaked on its heavy hinges while doing so.

He stepped slowly into the room; all forms of odd botany taking up space of the room. Twisted trunks of miniature trees gave life to several flowers – purple as poison. Drooping flowers hung from the ceiling that had vines running all around it. Odd perfumes and aromas assaulted his senses and he sneezed twice.

Only one person would ever want to live in a jungle when they had all been bred in the desert or the big city.

_His eyes were still open and he was still breathing. Death stood over him, eyes not on him. The sound of a body dropping to the ground answered his unsaid question. "Are you going to kill me?" _

_The shadows on death's face shifted and he knew death looked familiar. "I should." _

_Gaara nodded and coughed up blood, "You should."_

_Gun tucked into her obi, she stooped and gripped under his arms. "I thought you were death," he couldn't speak clearly, or think clearly apparently. _

"_Do you really think death would look like me?" _

_He didn't say that in his mind, if death looked as nice and gentle compared to the apparition he was surely going to get one day, he wouldn't mind dying anyway_.

He reached out to a particularly lonely looking flower confined to a small table in the corner that was browned and wilting. The petals slipped from it and carnivorous teeth lashed out at Gaara, long tongue with needles slicing his skin. He pulled back from it quickly and stared at the flower. The dead petals had been shed to unveil black petals that bordered red and a light shade of orange.

It stood straight and tall now while feathery short plumes of petals rose up beneath its jagged green leaves. Gaara watched this transformation and saw in his peripheral vision a vial of red standing beside a small pile of botany books on her nightstand.

The other plants seemed the shift at the sense of someone there to feed them.

He walked over to her nightstand and opened the drawer, seeing a bound book of leather lying on the bottom. He stared at it; '_The History of Artificial Intelligence and the Origins of Cyborgs_.'

Hinata was a botanist, a scout – she was not a machinist. He ran a steady hand through his hair, ruffling his bangs.

Picking the book up, it opened and he came across highlighted places; odd drawings of cyborgs he'd never seen before – their original blueprints were completely different from the ones that were sold now. They looked to be cheaper to make and environmentally efficient. He turned the page – dozens of unknown mathematical formulas were also highlighted and a few solutions, corrections and extra formulas were written beneath the drawings and along the sides.

Arrows pointing to certain parts of the cyborg had page numbers written on it.

Gaara flipped through the book, skimming it quickly and found highlighting, corrections and add ins everywhere.

A small barely noticeable bulge came from the beginning introduction to the book and he opened up to the page. Something fluttered to the ground and Gaara felt his blood freeze.

A black slip of paper with a single red cloud stared back up at him from the floor.

…

…

Naruto followed Temari, feeling the bad vibes radiating from his deadly partner, also feeling the hairs on the back of his neck stand up while his spine shivered, "Temari?"

"What is it?"

"I've got this…really bad feeling in my gut that tells me something's going to happen – and when it hits the fan…it's gonna be hell to clean up.

Temari stopped short and looked at Naruto from the corner of her eye, "Going to happen? Naruto, whatever is happening is already in motion and from the looks of it, only two people in this whole freaking building have any clue on what's happening. One is Tsunade," she held up one finger, "And the other one is that lazy smartass of a commander we have," another finger went up. "And I don't think they're going to tell us till the last minute."

"Temari aren't you being a tad paranoid? I c'mon. They're our superiors so they've got no reason to hide anything from us." Naruto stood in front of the blonde whose wild hair was pinned up by four pigtails.

"Just because they're our superiors doesn't mean they're going to keep us in the loop about everything Naruto."

The blue eyed male was taken aback by the harshness of her tone of voice. "What the hell makes you think they're hiding anything in the first place?"

"Tsunade can be cold, but sounding like she wanted to let Hinata's disappearance slide like that, low on people or not, is suspicious activity in its own, but letting Uchiha out of the base so soon?"

"Tsunade said that Sasuke could only go because he knew the Bad Lands!" Naruto protested loudly.

Temari gave her partner a cold look, "Exactly why he shouldn't go in the first place."

Naruto stared at her, "What's your problem Temari? I mean really. What the hell? You're being really paranoid and bitchy!"

"I'm always paranoid and bitchy you dimwit!" she snapped, irritated at her partner's density.

"Not like this – you're so tense I bet I could bounce a coin off your tatas and have it hit me back! Not only that but you keep giving off a murderous vibe."

Temari stared at him, only Naruto would bring up the subject of tatas when he was concerned. "Naruto there's just something…_eerie_ going on and you know how I get when I'm out of the loop."

The other blonde didn't budge, only observed her, "I guess this means you wanna beat on me, huh?"

"…Yeah. Be at the training area in ten minutes," it was an order and with that she walked away to her room.

Naruto looked after her. Temari's words were cryptic caused the blonde to give pause. His partner was an odd person all around, bloodthirsty, intelligent and all around intimidating because she was what she'd been bred to be. It was hard to describe her, she was just what Gaara had been born to be, what Kankurou…

Naruto winced. Kankurou; the jackass who hated kids had been ruthless and a total bastard but still a reliable person…

He had been perhaps the only person besides Gaara who could ever describe and fully understand Temari. Well, he used to be.

Whatever was driving Temari into such an alert state wasn't going to be good; it gave him chills. "Uzumaki." Naruto turned to come face to face with Sasuke who was staring at him with a serious gaze. The blonde scowled at the raven haired mercenary.

"What is it you bastard?"

"Whoever got Hyuuga probably knew what they were doing." His voice was even and the blonde wondered if he was mocking Hinata. Naruto felt his hackles rise at the thought.

"What?"

"I've checked her stats, she seriously lacks in strength and battle tactics but out of all of us, she's the best at hiding and running. She's smart and fast. She shouldn't have been caught so fast." Naruto stared at Sasuke and realized that his black haired friend was completely serious. "Whoever the hell got her must have been a professional. This is not just a kidnapping. She was our best scout and scouts are on their toes more than mercs are because they can't fight or take hits like we can."

Naruto saw a pair of red rims in his friend's eyes. "So…what are you saying?"

"She's a Hyuuga – what are the chances that some big shot wanting a piece of a fortune she could bring would be behind this?" Sasuke stared hard at Naruto who met his gaze.

"Sasuke…"

"It would be a top secret selling profit – Black Market deal."

Naruto clenched his fists, "Did you tell Tsunade?"

"No. She should know by now and if she doesn't, then what's the point? She's not the one bringing back Hyuuga."

"Sasuke!"

Sasuke glared at Naruto. "I'm only on this mission because I'd like to get some fresh air from this hellhole and I owe Hyuuga a small favor."

Naruto blinked and out of shock said nothing, "Favor?"

Sasuke closed his eyes and ignored Naruto, "We leave tomorrow morning. Get some sleep idiot." He walked away from the blonde silently who looked after him.

-

-blush- You guys are great, so many reviews and they're so long. O///O Hah! I didn't give you the teams. Next chapter they depart and the teams are given out.

Keep sending in requests for pairings if you like. I'm not anti-reviews cause I like them all; the good the bad and the ugly. For this story, there may be character death and it could be anyone; i.e. Hinata, Gaara, Naruto, Sakura, Tenten etc. I'm already leaning toward killing one character, you may suggest who I can kill because sooner or later I'm going to have to kill someone (for the plot's sake people, cripes). However, do NOT send reviews screaming 'zomg! Please don't kill…! Because you can't kill (insert name!) If you do then I won't read or review your story!!11 D:' yeah. That'll just piss me off and make me want to kill them more. :D Huzzah passive aggressiveness. XD

I got a job…as an assistant. So freaking awesome.

Explanations:

The man at the introduction is pretty obvious I hope, but if you don't know who it was that started the chapter, it was Asuma and yes he is dead, but I just wanted to try something out.

'Mercs' is just a shortened word for mercenaries; you guys don't really need it explained but just in case.


	3. Drei

_First Arc; Slice One_

Thank you to all who reviewed! Hugs and cuddles! So, thank you SilentAbyss, SadDarkWhispers, jbramx2, DarkSmile, Raining Secure, shadow of the lost, Melodramatic Writer, Purple1, akuma de soro, Kiko cat, creynoso and taixonay! Much love to you guys!

Drei

_A shot rang through the air, slicing wind and leaving a red mark on his cheek when the bullet grazed him. Gaara barely flinched, and instead leaned into his sniper rifle, looking into his scope and taking careful aim. _

_Through the green lens, a woman standing on the edge of a building wearing some weird white gown stood, aiming a black gun in his general direction. Gaara tensed and waited, licking his lips before firing. The gun kicked and the bullet hit the concrete she once was standing on, dust kicking up. Gaara's eyes blinked and he nearly snarled, seeing her jumping from building to building and slowly closing in on him. _

_He turned and fired again, no longer needing to look into the scope. _

_She had anticipated the move and had already moved out of the way, firing back at him. Gaara cursed, ducked and rolled before taking another shot at her. He missed, but barely, instead catching her sleeve, ripping it and it floated in the air. _

_Flipping, he watched her and fired again, it grazed her cheek, kimono sleeves fluttering. _

_She kicked out, nearly catching his face before landing on her feet and had begun her assault. _

_She was a scout, she was not bred for fighting, but running she was good at. He caught her calf and twisted her leg, flinging her. _

_She bounced back up and was smiling some strange, irritatingly happy smile at him. Her freakishly pale eyes darted down at the concrete of the roof. Gaara's eyes followed hers then narrowed rapidly. A fist sized green ball rolled to a stop a couple inches of his feet without its safety pin. _

_He was moving quickly, leaping over the small grenade and towards the scout whose skin color drained and she wheeled around, running even faster now that he was coming after her with his sniper rifle over his shoulder. _

_She leapt from the roof to the other roof like a cat, gracefully and she landed, running without missing a beat despite the kimono and the weird wooden shoes she was wearing. _

_Gaara ran after her, leaping in a fashion that wasn't technically graceful but the position his body twisted made it look professional. He rolled after her and behind them; the grenade blew up, causing a momentary shock wave. _

_It took her longer to recover from the aftershock, so Gaara moved and pulled the trigger. An empty click resounded and Gaara resisted the urge to bare his teeth savagely. She rolled onto her stomach and was slowly getting up. _

_Standing, he moved to her quickly, brandished a serrated edged knife in one hand and killing intent in the other. She flipped to her back and he saw a flash of white, grey and black. The white of her eyes and kimono, grey splotches, the black of her hair, the black of her obi, the black shine of her handgun kicking back when she pulled the trigger._

_A bullet pierced his midsection but it didn't even make him flinch – this woman had to be eliminated just as his sister had told him. Flipping it in his hand, he flung it at her and she rolled, but it still caught her despite her speed. With a hollow thunk, it landed in her thigh; spurt of blood, nearly to the hilt. _

_She gasped and her footing faulted, falling to one side almost limply. She turned her gun to him again, firing three shots, chest, shoulder and another midsection shot. Another click, empty. _

_Ignoring the pangs of pain that entered his body, curling and twisting, he flung himself on her, knocked her empty gun away and pinned her hands above her head with one large hand encircling her small wrists, knees digging into her thighs, forcing them to remain still. She gasped and gagged when he jarred the knife still stuck in her thigh. _

_He said nothing but kept eye contact with her when he wrenched the knife from her skin, flesh ripping, tissue breaking in some malevolent way that he derived sick pleasure in seeing her eyes wide and throat tight. His vision of her blurred. _

_He blinked and it was a clear whitened film on the edges of his eyes, slowly closing in and he wondered if this was death. He narrowed his eyes and sat back, a feeling much like a drain of emotion and blood was happening. He swayed and could barely see that pale eyed woman. The hand that held the knife was shaking and his other hand had loosened enough that her hands were able to slip out. _

_Fingers opening his, throwing the knife across the building, his eyes were sliding closed, vision unfocused but he could see that infuriatingly almost smug smile on her face. He didn't have his knife. His gun was out of ammunition. _

_His hands closed around her throat (soft, small, like a bird's neck) he heard her choke and she began to beat small fists against his chest, fingers prodding at his gunshot wounds and causing his muscles to twitch and flinch out of reaction. _

_He heard her choking, heartbeat growing dimmer. _

_Hazy white…fuzzy perception…blank_.

"…ra-sensei? Gaara-sensei!" Gaara's black ringed eyes snapped open and he turned to Konohamaru. Konohamaru gave him an odd look, staring back at Gaara. "You okay?" Gaara nodded once, feeling the truck bounce around, over dunes. Konohamaru frowned but leaned back and accepted the answer.

Gaara's eyes closed again, feeling the desert sun glare down at him despite the roof over his head.

"_What the hell are you doing here?" _

"_You're going to be here a while."_

_Silence, a glare and a soft smile. _

"_So I figured we should at least get to know each other, it's not like you're going anywhere." _

"_I don't want to know you – I just want to kill you." _

_Soft smile gone, pale eyes glow in the dark – luminescent as the moon. "My name is Hinata." _

_Silence and the figure leans against an opposite wall of the one in chains. White kimono and eyes, black obi and hair. Smile soft and dark as the grey on her kimono. "You know, when someone tells another person they're going to kill them, they usually tell them their name." _

_Silence…chains shift and move, clothing rustling and his side hurts. The pale eyed one sighed and moved to the door, opening it with intent to leave. _

"_Gaara." _

Gaara clenched his jaw and opened his eyes, not wanting to hear her at a time like this. The wind ruffled his hair and he breathed in the desert – scalding hot and gritty. With his thumb he began popping his knuckles and listened to the truck go over the small hills and crunch over small desert rocks. He had his back to the others, not wanting to converse.

He, Konohamaru, Shikamaru and Temari all sat in a semi circle in the back of the truck while Kiba drove. They were being sent to find Hinata – who had only left traces of herself behind. Everyone was silent for their own reasons, but the silence save Kiba's music was there and stifling.

Cat eyes opened and stared at the quiet redhead, even if it was in his nature to be introverted – this felt different. Temari observed her brother, knowing what – rather _who_ was on his mind and chose to say nothing; the weird infatuation or intrigue he seemed to hold for the Hyuuga girl hadn't dissipated as she had first thought it would. It was not a simple hold of his interest, something deeper and stranger. Gaara was a complex individual once you got beneath his lust for challenges, killing and anything dealing with warfare.

He and Hinata had first met when the girl, Naruto and Shikamaru had been sent to recruit the three of them. Naruto had ended up facing off with Temari, whom when he first met her had not only ogled her, but hit on her figuratively while doing so literally. Shikamaru had Kankurou unconscious long before the other two had done their duty.

Temari had never understood why they'd sent out a scout such as that frail thing after her beast of a brother. She understood when the girl had brought her youngest brother back, dragging him by his feet with blood on her leg. She'd given them a small and ghostly smile.

When she had observed the bullet wounds her brother had sustained, she concluded from the number and size that it shouldn't have been enough to have taken him down. Tranquilizing bullets – with enough sedates to knock off a horse.

At first, Tsunade hadn't been able to convince Temari or her younger brothers to become part of the base. They all fought tooth and nail against the mere idea of it; physically, mentally and emotionally seeing as they'd seen firsthand what became of bases when they collapsed.

They themselves had nearly caused total annihilation for the beloved base of these people who had captured them; uprooting it like a tough weed, having to yank at it. The three siblings had paid dearly for it as well – these people hadn't shown how ruthless and vicious they could be until their home had been truly threatened.

Temari leaned her head back against the side behind her, closing her catlike eyes for a little doze.

Konohamaru stared at his teacher's profile, now turned to the desert outwards, past the flapping tarps that covered the back instead of a door. Gaara had always been so strange, Konohamaru knew this and took that into stride, but whenever anything came to Hinata…there was a strange glint in his eyes, a sort of placidity in his movements, a silent prayer in his thoughts.

He had seen them together once and it was this that stuck in his mind; bore curiosity of them. It had been when he'd seen that woman and Gaara converse in the hallway, the way he regarded her and her actions. He had watched Gaara talk to her a little, speaking quietly. He had watched his redheaded teacher reach out to her – physically and in no means to be threatening – and watched her shirk from him, dodging him and then disappearing so quickly Konohamaru wondered if she was a phantom.

He'd asked Naruto and he never had received a straight answer from the blonde mercenary no matter how many times he asked.

"_What's up with Gaara-sensei and that woman?" _

_A blink of deep blue eyes, "What woman?" _

"_You know; the one with the weird lookin' eyes?" _

_Naruto stared at him silently, face hardening, "…You mean what's goin' on with him and Hinata?" _

_Konohamaru nodded, staring at the man before him silently, watching his facial expression. Naruto's lips twitched and he looked off to the side. "I'm not good at telling things." _

"_Just the general idea then." _

"_You can't explain something like that like it's some kinda…problematic formula," Konohamaru figured Temari had probably used this before. "Things like this can't be explained." Naruto shrugged and turned from Konohamaru, "Maybe if you've got enough of whatever Gaara and I see in you, you'll ask him yourself." _

_Konohamaru watched the blonde man walk away silently. _

Konohamaru looked over at Gaara's silent form, profile turned to the desert sands. He sighed and leaned back, wishing Naruto was there so it wouldn't be so _boring_.

Shikamaru leaned back, and closed his eyes, instead of hearing the truck hitting the dunes and Kiba's loud rock music, he heard prickly white noise. Buzzing like a mosquito in his ears, insistently. It filled his senses and he listened before he looked over at Gaara. He was surprised that Gaara hadn't shot him by now, or threatened him at least. The redhead seemed to have the opposite effect, instead of becoming violent, withdrew into himself.

Shikamaru wondered if – _when_ they found her, and whoever did take her, how many pieces would be left of him after Gaara was through with the kidnapper. The storm was brewing and it had no place to go but could only linger and grow and rot within Gaara until it could go somewhere.

The commanding officer sighed and closed his eyes so that he could rest before planning out a game plan for the team.

_Static_.

…

…

Shino was not generally one to get emotionally; he preferred to keep his emotions at an all around mellow stage because accidents happen. Life happens and it hurts, he'd observed that from his friends. Hinata had been a friend and old teammate of his, the mediator between he and Kiba, the warm blooded between the cold blooded and the hot blooded for balance.

Her kidnapping was a surprise of course because logically Hinata would have skirted farthest from the danger and the fastest because it was what she'd been bred for. Her body was of a dancer's, a lithe jackrabbit or forest deer so that in cases of being cornered, she could fight back – but she could always outrun the enemy.

So yes Shino had been startled at the announcement of Hinata's disappearance and the shock had settled in with the numbness before his chest had tightened and he couldn't breathe normally. She had been his friend for a while, a friend to everyone on base so it was no wonder why it had taken them by surprise. Having the friend of everyone being taken made it seem personal, but Shino took it into stride.

Missions were never meant to be personal and deep rooted. That made it easy for stupid mistakes and failure had a higher percentage. This was one case that failure was not an option, so he stayed focused.

Within the truck was silence, Sasuke was in the corner brooding while Naruto could barely stay still, fidgeting and earlier, Shino had seen the blonde try to withhold tears. Moegi and Udon sat together playing cards with tight frowns and ugly dispositions. Tenten was in the front, driving the truck whilst Neji sat across of Shino.

Shino had observed Neji for any emotions and could only come across cold impatience and righteous anger that their commanding officer had sent his little cousin, a scout, into such bad territory without company. The line that divided Neji's disgust and care for his cousin was paper thin and as solid as tissue.

Moegi and Udon, despite being so involved within their card game and not knowing much of Hinata still remembered her since she had taught them a few tricks. Udon was probably more attached to Moegi since Hinata had worked more on him than Moegi. The girl had undergone a split of Temari's and Sakura's training while Udon paid attention to Hinata.

Naruto was close to Hinata, as were most in the base. She had been one of his confidents when they'd been younger and Sakura had rebutted all his advances to her in favor of trying woefully to woo Sasuke. Naruto had always encouraged Hinata when they were younger, the girl had eventually put him on some sort of adoration pedestal that in which he became her idol.

He had been her teammate and leader at some point in time. He'd never wanted to be a leader; he was an estranged and solitary creature, like a poisonous spider or a savage and calculating praying mantis. He'd been forced to step up because Kiba, well, Kiba was a rash and impulsive idiot and Hinata was simply too timid and obeying to be a leader. One day, in name of a crisis, he'd barked a single order at Hinata to play decoy, he defense and minor offense while Kiba played major offense.

Since then, orders had to come from his mouth to be official.

The three of them had made the best tracking team, the best at spying and they'd been merely the leftovers. The ones who didn't fit in with the others and had been thusly referred to Team Freak instead of Team Eight.

Shino turned his attention to the black haired Uchiha; the traitor whom was to be their guide within the Badlands.

Bored and disinterested, Sasuke sat there lethargically like a python within a cramped cage. Black eyes, dark as filthy water or the desert night flicked to Shino and the two stared at one another silently – trying to decipher the other's thoughts.

Shino found a starved wolf staring right back at him, thin and lanky – all bones and lean muscle with skin stretched tightly over. He looked away and Sasuke didn't smirk, knowing that while he hadn't looked away first; the Aburame still got what he'd wanted.

Naruto looked over at Sasuke, sky blue eyes red rimmed and slightly puffed up, "Hey, boring bastard over there. I got a question for ya."

Sasuke barely turned his head to look over at the blonde who demanded his attention crudely. "What, you twit?"

Naruto didn't so much as bat an eyelash over the insult to his intelligence. "What did ya mean by that you owe Hinata a favor?"

Shino looked over at the Uchiha, brow raised over his dark glasses in silent inquiry.

Sasuke stared at the both of them, not saying a word and just breathing shallowly. The favor he owed the Hyuuga was also a favor everyone in the whole goddamned base owed her. Whether they knew it or not, they all still had their debts to pay. He was paying his when he could because assigned to find the supplies truck or not, he'd look for the Hyuuga and find her.

Debt paid off. No more looking over at the scout, wondering how he could pay her off when she never mentioned it, never seemed to want anything and with people breathing down his neck, wouldn't be able to deliver whatever she may have wanted properly anyway.

Sasuke blinked and a memory like an old film played.

_It was a tomb, not a cell for holding him. Light barely filtered through the small window in the steel door and out of the tiny one above him. _

_Footsteps coming closer, like the teeny tiny clip-clop of a small pony down a stone street. Geta shoes. Only one person wears geta shoes in this place. _

_He waits for a moment when the clip-clop sound stop. He knows she'll speak first, only leaning against the door as though for support because he can always hear the sigh of her clothing scraping the door. _

_He toys with the idea of what her redheaded guard dog would think of her coming this late almost every night to visit the runaway Uchiha. _

_He hears the scrape of her kimono against the steel, rustling restlessly. _

"_Your brother is coming to kill us all." _

"_I know." _

_Keys clinking, flash of white eyes; shadows creep up her face from his view of the small window on the door, "He's already on the move." _

"_I know." _

_Silence, it's dark in the cell, the door swings open and light floods the darkness. "Hyuuga?" _

"_It's a family matter isn't it?" _

_He falls quiet and the light hurts his eyes. He rises and his muscles ache. She stands beside the door with his sword and his favorite gun. He says nothing about her touching his possessions and steps into the light. _

_It blinds him and it's behind her, giving her a bright ethereal glow as though she's an angel with no place holding his weapons. _

_He takes them and heeds her when she tells him to go out through the back left exit. _

_He disappears in the night to kill his brother, silent as the angel of death he is said to be. He turns back only once and sees perched on top of their headquarters that a phantom is watching over him. _

_He vanishes_.

Sasuke opened his mouth, "She understands family matters more than anyone else here." He fell silent once more and turned his attention to the never changing sand dunes, pale and dusty, gritty and tasteless.

Naruto was taken aback and cocked his head, confused as to what Sasuke meant by this.

Shino's lips tighten and behind his dark glasses, his eyes narrow. He knew exactly what the Uchiha meant by this and always knew that Hinata would do something like that, given the chance. He pops his knuckles and looks over at the two apprentices they are taking with them, still halfheartedly interested in their card game.

Moegi was still winning since Udon couldn't call a bluff if his life depended on it.

"You bastard. All these years and you keep talking in goddamn riddles. What the hell?!" Naruto fairly snarled or scolded him.

Sasuke quirked a brow, "It's essential to my charm," he drawled.

Naruto scowled and waved a tanned hand at him, "Charm my ass, you've got about as much charm as a buzzard on fire."

Sasuke rolled his eyes at Naruto's country humor, "Why is it then, women fall over me and they seem to fall running from you?"

Naruto glared at him and gave him a rude gesture, "At the very least you boring, riddle talking charming bastard of a buzzard, I've got a freaking personality."

Sasuke snorted mockingly. Naruto in turn thumbed his nose at the Uchiha. Shino stared at them silently, debating which to kill first while Moegi crowed lamely that she won another round and Udon snuffled.

In the front of the truck, Tenten drummed her fingers on the steering wheel with one hand while her other hand patted the sheathe of Soshoryu. Her nails scraped over the carefully beaded and scaled hide of his hilt. It didn't feel right, going into the Badlands, the kidnapping of a mere scout or of Hinata being sent all by herself into such a territory.

"We've got such a genius for a commander and we're in this mess. Something's…not adding up, is it Soshoryu?" her fingernails tapped at the hilt gently, making clicking noises. She received no reaction from her prized tanto and fell silent, but still caressed the black sheathe and recently polished hilt as though drawing strength from the dragons entwined at the hilt, claws clawing at the other, jaws locking onto the hidden blade and tails forming barbs only Tenten could work around.

She waited still for a reaction. The dragons were silent and still; as though hiding without meaning to.

Tenten's jaw tightened and she focused on the dusty and uninteresting road ahead of her, one hand on the steering wheel and the other holding Soshoryu.

-

O.o Why do I keep getting so many reviews? I'm so flattered and most of them are so long and detailed – keels over; is dead -

:S I know I made Gaara seem a bit OOC (hopefully not too much, and if so, then please tell me), but I hope you liked the…past and hinted Gaara and Hinata interactions. :D

The chapter basically comes from me…wanting more character development more than just 'haha I kill all you bitches now die!' and a lot of gunfire and some dead guys. There's going to be a lot of hinted romance, friendship and gradual friendship along with character insight. Any questions you guys might have, send in and if I can or if they aren't spoiler worthy, I shall answer them. Btw, there are no demons within this story just for clarification cause it's not a spoiler. XD

Tenten's tanto 'Soshoryu' is actually an attack she used within the Chuunin exams when she fought Temari; _Twin Rising Dragons_. When she 'listens' or waits for a 'reaction' from Soshoryu, it's a figurative meaning – a subconscious feeling that she recognizes her tanto as not just her weapon, but as a battle companion. …Yeah….

FYI…apparently Purple1 is now my sex slave. CX Kinky.


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